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Adventure Three: One Piece At A Time
We head west toward the town of Othello, a haven for ghouls. Sapient ghouls live inside the town, while the feral ghouls are moved to the Hanford Site, several miles south across the Columbia River. When threats come to Othello, the town can sound an alarm that summons the feral ghouls to come defend it (DC 15 Knowledge check: this is more organized behavior than feral ghouls are known to have). On our way to the town, Earl rigs up transport for our weaker/younger party members. Megan reaches out to Shovelface to try to make him feel more included. Idith shares her background and her mission to fix her Vault. As we approach Othello, we cover up our collars with scarves to disguise them as anti-dust covers for our faces. We meet Phenom Marquez, a ghoul mechanic, at a garage on the outskirts of Othello. He takes us to Brena Caersicus, tower guard at the bridge leading into the town. Ghouls are automatically allowed to enter Othello. Children of any species, even teenagers like Julian and Adrienne, are also welcomed with their biological families. The only way non-ghouls can gain entry is if a citizen of Othello vouches for us; this will also make the vouched-for person a citizen as well. The leader of the town, an old woman ghoul named Babushka Korizma, arrives. Korizma carries a ghoul on her back, who has the appearance of a young child. It is noted that Korizma would be able to tell who was biologically related, so she would determine who was a blood relative of a child. Thus, outsiders could not lie about their relation to a child in order to gain entry to Othello. Old Chuck vouches for Idith, and Phenom, who is intrigued by Earl's interest in street racing, vouches for him. The two non-ghouls then vouch for other members of the party, and eventually everyone is granted citizenship except for Busted Jimmy Hat, who must stay at a hotel outside of the town. Brena is hesitant to allow the influx of citizens, but we promise our good will. Once in the town, we explore the area to see if we can trade for tools such as a plasma cutter. We check the hospital but have no luck. Alder meets Dr. Pozalini there, a ghoul who is conducting research on the ghoul state. She offers to try to heal a patient of his, a ghoul woman with a broken leg. Though the healing works, it first causes the affected part of the woman's leg to heal into regular human flesh before gradually (and painfully) returning to normal. Alder is banned from the hospital. Phenom takes Earl, Shovelface, and Busted Jimmy Hat to his garage to talk cars. He explains that local raider tribes race one another, often using it as a way to negotiate various rights and advantages. Othello has a track that the local raiders come to use, though Othello itself has never participated in the race; the town just enjoys the economic benefit of the scrap metal left behind in the form of totaled cars. Now that Earl is here, though, Phenom sends out an invitation for a race with Othello as a participant. The party occupies empty rooms in a school. Skinny Earl, a ghoul who lives in a partially collapsed building on the campus, maintains a beautiful rock and sand garden north of the school. He makes vague and threatening comments to the party, warning them to leave town. Phenom, Earl, and the party spend the next few days outfitting Phenom's car for the race. Then the raider tribes arrive.